Sickle cell elimination is on a mission mode
On 19th August 2025, Sickle Cell elimination mission announced that it had completed screening of 6 crore individuals. As of now the program envisages screening entire population (upto 18 years…
Lunatic asylums: Borne out of shame and contempt
Advent of Lunatic Asylums in India British traders came to India in the 17th century, and over next 150 years became colonialists. The year 1757 is considered as a turning…
Finsen’s Nobel Prize for letting light to heal
Finsen's chemical light to heal Niels Finsen was born in 1860 in Faroe Islands, a remote Danish territory located in the North Atlantic between Iceland and Norway. He lived on…
‘Chiaroscuro’ to depict conflict or state of mind
I learned a new word today - Chiaroscuro. It is a art technique, often used to emphasize and illuminate important figures in a painting or drawing. This technique uses colors…
Bullying: A behavior on its way to become a disorder ?
What is bullying ? Today bullying itself is not considered to be a disorder. On the other hand a victim of bullying could develop a post-bullying disorder. Strange it may…
Autism Jigsaw Symbol: Time for a change ?
The word Autism comes from Greek, for "self-directed". In-fact this new word was coined only in the year 1908 by a Psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler, to describe some patients who were…
Three implants to mend heart: Stent, Valve and a Defibrillator
Three implants for the heart have changed the outcomes of heart disease - namely stents, artificial valves, and an implantable defibrillator. Stents can now open a tiny blood vessel supplying…
Christiaan Barnard, and his heart transplants
Christiaan Barnard was made famous on 3rd December 1967, when he performed first human to human heart transplant in Cape Town, South Africa. He was just 45 when he performed…
Mayo clinic: The first modern group practice
William Worrall Mayo (WW Mayo), was born in England in 1819, studied chemistry and migrated to United States in 1845. He first worked as a pharmacist in New York, and…
Virginia Apgar, an accidental anesthetist
All medical students are taught Apgar score, a 10-point scale to grade a just-born as healthy or at risk. This has made Virginia Apgar quite immortal. She however was neither…